Bloodline: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins

The president’s daughter has been kidnapped by Somali pirates and her husband killed. It isn’t clear why they were on a yacht and traveling under false passports especially when she was eight months pregnant.

This is the latest novel in the Sigma Force series of thrillers. The team is dispatched to find the president’s daughter. It becomes clear that the kidnapping isn’t about her- it is about the baby. This isn’t a stand alone book. There is a mythology in this series that seems to be mostly resolved in this book.

One interesting addition to this book was a dog and handler. The author is a veterinarian so he does a good job with animal characters. The point of view of a trained war dog is shown.

The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband by David Finch

Five years into an unsatisfying marriage, the author’s wife makes him take an internet screening test for Asperger’s. He scores big. Now understanding that he doesn’t mean to be self-centered and lazy, they start to work on fixing their marriage. He writes down statements to remember like, “Don’t change the radio station while she’s singing along” and “Apologies don’t count if they are shouted.”

I felt for this man’s wife. He’s a sweet guy but everything is about him. He literally doesn’t understand why it might irritate his wife if he only does his own laundry. (I married someone just like that once.) He can’t figure out why his insistence on hour long showers while she gets the kids up and ready for the day (and then doesn’t get a shower herself) might make her unhappy. This book is very funny as he tries to figure out how to make his wife happy by studying women’s magazines and insisting that she give him performance reviews like he gets at work.

Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky

The author graduated from college with a degree that didn’t qualify him to do anything so he started parking cars. This morphed into jobs at a hotel front desk and into management. He tells stories about what he has seen in many years in hotels.

This book is a funny rant about hotels and the staff and people who visit them. I worked at a hotel for just one summer and even I have stories of weirdness so someone working the front desk for years has some great ones. It also has a lot of info on who ideal guests “should” act. Hint, be free with the tips and don’t ignore the bellmen. I never stay at hotels that have bellmen so that’s not really an issue but I do tip housekeeping on the first day.